Economics/Business Degrees are useless and a waste of your money!

*Lets get this straight, if you aren't going to university to become, a Engineer, Doctor, Accountant, or any other degree that gives you a job in your field, then you are just wasting your time. *

Majors such as Philosophy, History, Sociology etc are all useless, and you can learn those on your own if you really wanted to. Don't go $120k in debt because of that.

If you major in business or economics and get a job in Investment Banking because that is what you wanted, then it isn't useless, BUT if you go to a school that isn't even ranked in the top 30 and major in business because you want to be an "entrepreneur" you are just wasting your time.

  1. It's better for you to become an engineering major, and worst case scenario you get a job that pays you six figures, and read tons of books on economics or business because that's what you are passionate about, than to major in business and get no job after university.
  • You don't need to major in business to become an "Entrepreneur" in fact, it's a waste of time, because you can read many excellent books on Business/Marketing/Leadership/Management/Innovation from people with an Harvard MBA, than to waste 4 years of your life and paying $120,000.

  • You won't become rich working for somebody else anyway, because there will always be a cap on your salary, and no matter how great of an employee you are, you won't make as much as the owner.

  • If you aren't trying to work for somebody, then there's no point of going to a University to major in business, because the whole point of a University is to make you into an employee.

  • Now you are saying, "Well I want to go to a University to learn about business, before I start my own business." See point #1. You can literally read tons of books on Business from people who know what they're talking about, if you really want to learn how to start your own business.

  • At the end of the day, University is an investment. If you are spending $120k, to get a job that pays you $60k mid career, you messed up.

Read Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. Save yourself 2 semesters of Econ. And read more books on Econ on your own time, while majoring in a practical major. If you get a job in investment banking/hedge funds/trading, you also need to understand you are in the minority. For 60 job openings at a top IB, there is 10,000 applicants.

Agree or disagree?

 

Velit quis magni molestiae est autem. Culpa unde maiores sed odio voluptatem. Voluptatem libero et corrupti molestiae commodi. Perferendis neque dolor doloremque. Esse laboriosam et et dignissimos neque recusandae vero.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”